Tuesday, September 30, 2014

DIY: Striped and Dotted Mug

DIY: striped and dotted mug

This is another of those non-beauty related random posts. I thought it would be fun to throw in something different for a change.

Here's the thing. My son just went to school for the first time in September (can't believe it, I feel old :) ). All of us parents bought simple clear mugs for our kids to leave at school. Since they were all the same and clear we had to take them home to sign the name of the child to whom the mug belonged. Well, I thought that just signing the mug was no fun and decided to decorate it. Later, it appeared that I was not the only one thinking so :), all parents were very creative and came up with their own decorative ideas.

Anyway, since I had to use something that could stand the contact with water or other liquids at least for a while,and I didn't have any special glass paint or anything like that, I decided to use nail polish. I know, I know, it won't last long and will probably chip after a couple of uses and washes, but I can always repaint the mug or remove the polish altogether. Plus, I didn't have time to go look for some special paint that could stand the water and be safe for when my kid would drink from the mug painted by it. You can of course use the proper paint that's safe to use on kitchen glass and just follow the same technique.

So, here's what I've used to decorate my mug:

nail polish in 3 different colors

any kind of washi tape

Q-tips and

nail polish remover for cleaning up at the end

Now it's pretty obvious how to use all these things.1. First, you need to put washi tape on the mug leaving gaps for your desired stripes.2. Then you just paint on the nail polish in those gaps between the washi tape. Keep in mind that you'll need to use A LOT of nail polish to get a reasonably opaque color. So use thick layers, otherwise you'll just paint forever. Then you wait for the first layer to completely dry. Then repeat with the 2nd (3rd etc.) layer and let it dry again. I did 2 layers just because I was lazy. It could easily use 1 more layer.3. Once the last layer is totally dry you can remove the washi tape.4. Now you just put dots between the stripes, basically exactly where your washi tape was. Let them dry.5. Once everything is completely dry, you can take a Q-tip soaked with a nail polish remover and clean up the not-so-very-tidy edges.And voilà! You're done :).

Striped and dotted mug

I like it. I think it looks so fun and happy for any child, but great for my boy especially, because it is not too girly, it's still simple, yet the colors make it unique and personal. He loved it.

Thank you for reading, I hope you liked this little DYI. Please, let me know in the comments if you'd like to see more posts like these. Have a lovely day and keep your heart beautiful.